Hispanic alcoholism is a growing problem

David Melson:

I don't want to come across as if I'm picking on one ethnic group. But the number of Hispanics being arrested, mostly for drinking violations, is far out of proportion in terms of their overall percentage of Bedford County's population.

It's reached the point where at least once a week drunken Hispanics have accidents, often crashing into innocent drivers. Many, if able, jump out and run from their wrecks. I've actually seen one occasion where one's car simply stopped running at an intersection and he ran.

Few, if any, are licensed or have insurance.

Police are doing the best they can. Many, if not most, of the drunks they catch are being stopped at night -- when officers can't see inside the cars -- so no one can claim racial profiling.

I'd like to see more efforts to fight alcoholism from those involved in attracting Hispanics here to begin with.

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